Manic Hobgoblin: St. Patrick's Day Edition

Guinness cheese dip recipe  •  green popcorn recipe  •  potato cups recipe

sherbet punch recipe  •  whiskey sours recipe  •  chocolate Guinness cupcakes recipe

Five Things for Spring

Usually Austin does not have winter longer than 3 days, but this year we totally had a cold, drippy winter complete with two snow dustings and multiple freezing days and nights. What?! I'm excited for spring this year in a way that I have not been in years past. Though not officially spring until March 20, I see buds peeking out already. Here are five things I'm looking forward to this spring in Austin.

1. Strolling through Zilker Botanical Garden

2. Kayaking again on Town Lake (a.k.a. Lady Bird Lake)

3. The view from Mount Bonnel

4. Checking out the Yippee Ki Yay installation at Pease Park

Photo from PeasePark.org

5. Visiting Ellsworth Kelly's 'Austin' structure

Local Nonprofits I Love in 2018

Amplify Austin Day occurs March 1 - 2 this year. Amplify Austin Day is our city's annual community-wide day of online giving. The 24-hour period provides an easy and fun way for our entire community to give together while helping local nonprofits. Together we raised $9.8M for nearly 700 Central Texas nonprofits on Amplify Austin Day in 2017. Over the past five years, Amplify Austin has raised $35M for hundreds of local organizations.

Chad and I support several nonprofits (local, national and global) with scheduled monthly gifts. Amplify Austin Day provides an opportunity to support many worthy causes. Here are the local nonprofits closest to our hearts. 

1. Emancipet's mission is to make spay/neuter services and veterinary care affordable and accessible to all pet owners. Emancipet envisions a future where all pets are happy, healthy, and living with families whose lives they enrich. 

2. Meals on Wheels Central Texas seeks to nourish and enrich the lives of the homebound and other people in need through programs that promote dignity and independent living. 

3. Central Texas Food Bank is a leader in the fight against hunger for nearly 35 years, with the mission to nourish hungry people and lead the community in the fight against hunger. 

4. SAFE stands for Stop Abuse For Everyone, and is a merger between Safe Place and Austin Children's Shelter. The SAFE Alliance's mission is to lead in ending sexual assault and exploitation, child abuse, and domestic violence through prevention, intervention, and advocacy for change.

5. Caritas of Austin believes that when every person has a stable place to call home, they can realize their full potential and contribute to our community. Caritas builds wellbeing by making sure that people have a safe home, access to healthy groceries, jobs that provide a reliable living wage, and educational opportunities to learn life skills. 

6. KLRU is Austin's Public Broadcasting Service station. I grew up on shows like Sesame Street and The Electric Company. PBS programming taught me the alphabet, how to spell short words, colors and how to share before kindergarten. (I know, HBO bought Sesame Street, but only recently.) As an adult I enjoy BBC import shows and locally produced shows.

Whether you live in Austin or some other lovable place, find ways to support nonprofit organizations you believe in with your time, talents and/or money.

Manic Hobgoblin: Christmas Edition

I often have an inner monologue running. Most of the time that quiet voice exudes kindness and acceptance. Sometimes that gentle voice helps me focus on a project, or urges me to finish a necessary task. Sometimes that voice reminds me to take a breath before responding. I'm at peace when this voice speaks. My usual inner monologue voice reinforces a highly-curated collection of my best qualities.

Every once in a while, a different voice interrupts. I call this voice Manic Hobgoblin, or MH for short. MH exudes insecurity, never feeling as if anything I do is enough. MH, always wanting more, blows budgets and overextends time commitments and shows zero concern for my personal well-being. MH seemed to be in hibernation for a long time. Today, December 23, MH awoke. MH thinks that one Christmas tree in the house is not enough. MH says I should dig out the second (faux) Christmas tree from the shed and decorate it as a fun Christmas Eve project. MH says it's not enough that Chad and I went to Austin's Trail of Lights at Zilker Park. We MUST also go to Winter Wonderland at Circuit of the Americas. MH thinks I should stay up all night doing the 1000 piece Christmas Santa jigsaw puzzle. MH wants me to get up early and make one last mad-dash to the grocery store tomorrow on Christmas Eve, despite the overstuffed kitchen cabinets and refrigerator. MH also thinks I should hit some post-Christmas sales on December 26. In short, MH has no chill, and Christmas is his time to shine, shine, SHINE!

Manic Hobgoblin, you are crazy, and not at all in a fun way. Stop watching those cruddy commercials during the saccharine-syrup Hallmark movies. Step away from the Pinterest board, MH. Here, look at these pretty pictures from the Trail of Lights. Have a store-bought cookie. Pop open a diet ginger ale. Put your feet up. You're feeling vvvveeeerrrrryyyyy sssssllllllleeeeeepppppyyyyy.

Sssshhhhh. Manic Hobgoblin sleeps again. Let's keep that creature from stirring. Merry Christmas. 

Shopping & Shipping: Done!

When shopping for Christmas: I have ten nieces and nephews, one parent still living, one grandparent still living, a mother-in-law and a father-in-law. They all live halfway across the country. I feel such a sense of relief when the last package of Christmas presents is wrapped, packed and shipped each year. As of Tuesday, December 12, 2017 at 4:07 PM Central/Standard time, I am done!

via GIPHY

That's a wrap!

Five Songs I Have on Repeat

Here are my five fave song obsessions at this moment. You're welcome.

1. The Gold by Manchester Orchestra



So deliciously moody and perfect.


2. Learn to Let Go by Kesha



Lady, I wish I could. This song provides many feels.


3. May I Have This Dance by Francis and the Lights, featuring Chance the Rapper



Someone needs to hold a boombox over their head and play this song real loud outside their crush's window.


4. The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness by The National



Total nonsense, and I can't stop singing along.


5. Let 'Em Say by Lizzo and Caroline Smith



I've been pretty obsessed with Lizzo since I saw her at SXSW this year. I think she's positively amazing. I'm so excited to see her perform next week live in Austin!

Chad feels much better. So do I.

I'm happy and grateful to report that Chad feels much better. After the alarming swelling of his face due to an infection, his nice face is now back to normal. The antibiotics did their job defeating the infection in his jaw. I'm thankful for modern medicine. I'm thankful that we have the resources to deal with health issues when they arise. I'm mindful that many people are not so fortunate. 

I'm also thankful that the overwhelming sense of helplessness and worry I felt as a result of Chad's infection is gone. We are both sleeping (mostly) soundly again. 

🙌

I had a birthday. Chad needs a root canal.

The Wednesday before my birthday featured a tough session at the gym with my sweet, pretty, perky trainer (who is trying to kill me with lunges, squats, planks and push-ups), lots of household chores and a trip to the grocery store to prepare for the celebrations (and laziness) to come. Thursday morning Chad and I hit the road at the crack of 9:00 AM. (That's early for me. #ChronoDelayed) Destination: Dallas, first stop: lunch at Unleavened Fresh Kitchen. Being a vegetarian on the road in unfamiliar places presents a challenge. While a few chain restaurants offer veggie options, I don't always (as in hardly ever) want to eat at Subway or Chipotle. I research online ahead of time for viable veggie food. Unleavened Fresh Kitchen hit the spot with the Gardener Wrap -- yum! Bonus points for location near our next stop: Dallas Arboretum & Botanical Garden. I was so looking forward to seeing the eleventy-billion pumpkins and gourds. The displays were amazing. But I won't lie, the hot weather and blinding sun were a major fall weather fail. Chad and I skulked from shady spot to shady spot, cutting our time at the gardens short due to sunburn risk and heat exhaustion. Enjoy the photos. Know that I was sweaty and growing increasingly irritable when I took them.

This year's pumpkin village theme: The Wizard of Oz

Is that Dorothy in the background? Nope.
Just some little girl standing on the pumpkins.
Like one does.

We traded the blinding sun and sweat-inducing heat of Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden for the sweet shade and air-conditioning of the Dallas Museum of Art. We specifically visited the museum to experience the Kusama installation art piece entitled All the Eternal Love I Have for Pumpkins.  Call me skeptical about standing in a mirrored box with polka-dotted pumpkin sculptures for 45 seconds, but it turned out to be emotionally affecting to see these joyful pumpkins reflected forever and ever and ever. The optical illusion of eternal pumpkins also left me feeling a bit wobbly physically. I think the artist knew what she was doing by limiting exposure to 45 seconds. If you go, I strongly encourage you to buy tickets to this special exhibit ahead of time. Chad and I wandered the museum for hours. I do love Dallas Museum of Art.

Lovely glass art with a nice view at Dallas Museum of Art

As I shamefully admitted on this very blog several months ago, Chad and I fell off the vegan wagon. We're just vegetarian with vegan tendencies now. With that out of the way, our last stop in Dallas: dinner at Cane Rosso in Deep Ellum. We shared salad, focaccia and an outstanding Margherita pizza. There was cheese and it was delicious. I'm sorry, cows. Thank you, cows.

We managed to wait out most of the rush hour traffic before hitting the road back to Austin. After some bothersome lane closures due to roadwork, we were home safe & sound by 10:30 PM.

Friday morning I awoke to donuts from Bougie's delivered by a handsome, hunky man. (It was Chad.) Wow. (The donuts and the Chad.) We went halfsies on a lavender donut and a cinnamon donut. Both cake style donuts were exemplary. I highly recommend. 

After some relaxed Internet time and lolling about, we stepped out for lunch not too far from home at El Mercado (a.k.a. Old Reliable). Veggie fajitas and a daytime margarita were all I hoped they would be. Many times while dining at El Mercado on Burnet Road, I've looked across the street and spied the sign for Chocolaterie Tessa. With birthday-weekend momentum building we finally visited Chocolaterie Tessa for the first time. The smell of chocolate gently beckoned us inside while the spare, tasteful displays offer glimpses of chocolatey goodness. We procured six truffles to share, each more heavenly than the next.  

In the spirit of trying new things we also popped in to a store in our neighborhood that we'd not yet visited. Magic Caravan at 5003 Burnet Road lives up to its name. Gorgeous rugs, fancy pillow covers, intricately painted ceramics, exotic jewelry, Turkish towels, robes and colorful light fixtures delighted us. Plus I got to meet the shop dogs who were sweet and beautiful, so major bonus points there. I exercised great restraint, buying only three colorful handmade ceramic bowls. Great restraint. 

Chad and I went to see a movie in the middle of a weekday. So decadent. We saw Flatliners (the 2017 re-do). Meh. Then we hit Trader Joes's where I bought everything that looked good. The bill came in under $59. What?! I should go to Trader Joe's more, but it's a bit of a trek from our house. 

Saturday morning I spied with my little eye this lovely birthday tablescape. (Even though my birthday wasn't until Sunday, Chad set the scene early.) Chad made yummy brunch for us which included killer French toast. We did our best imitations of sloths all day. We had leftover veggie fajitas for linner. (Linner = lunch + dinner.) We had birthday cake a little early. We're so crazy! (Note the sarcasm. We are fairly mild-mannered and polite folk.)

Sunday, officially my birthday, we brunched at Blue Star Cafeteria: the only place in town to get good grits. After brunch the weather was brutally hot and sunny for what was supposed to be a fall day. And Austin City Limits music festival made most of Central Austin a no-go-zone. So we scurried home to hide from the elements and crowds. I opened presents. I am now the proud owner of a Kenzo sweatshirt. I try to be all "live simply so that others may simply live", but in my heart of hearts, I lusted for that colorful Kenzo sweatshirt something fierce. My precious.

Sunday afternoon, Chad took his usual weekend day siesta. He seemed distracted. After some gentle questioning, he admitted to a toothache. We thought it was sinus pressure from seasonal allergies making his tooth hurt as it was sinus-adjacent. After three and a half days of birthday debauchery (kidding), things kind of fizzled out by Sunday evening (not kidding). We ate Trader Joe's salads for dinner. Chad went to bed way early. 

Monday Chad's tooth was hurting even more. He googled and self-diagnosed that he probably bruised a ligament in his jaw due to sinus pressure. (Public Service Announcement: do not google and self-diagnose. You'll be wrong.) I went to my workout Monday morning and to Spanish class Monday evening. Chad did not sleep well Monday night.

Tuesday Chad's upper jaw and tooth were still in a real bad state. I rubbed his shoulders between doing loads of laundry to try and distract him from the pain. We met up with Chad's brother, who happened to be in town for his work, for dinner. Chad put on a brave face for his brother, but agreed to see a dentist Wednesday, so I know the pain must have been terrible. Chad did not sleep much Tuesday night.

Wednesday morning Chad awoke to a swollen upper lip. At his 8:00 AM dentist appointment, the doctor diagnosed a serious infection and a need for a root canal. After an initial treatment, and a prescription for good pain meds and antibiotics, Chad should be on the mend. Only, he's not. If anything, the swelling is worse and has spread up to his nose and cheeks. I'm so worried about him. He looks miserable and awful. I offered to take him to an urgent care clinic, but he declined.

I'm marching him back to the dentist tomorrow if things don't look better in the morning. Send prayers and happy, healing thoughts. 

Five Favorite Live Theatre Shows I've Seen

I'm really proud to call such a creative and talented person as Max Langert my friend. Friday evening Chad and I saw Max Langert's new play Gibberish Mostly at the newly reopened Ground Floor Theatre. Gibberish Mostly presents a thought-provoking, clever speculation of what goes on in the mind and consciousness of an autistic woman unable to speak intelligibly to her parents. Or is it that her parents are unable to speak intelligibly to her? The set design features an inventive forced perspective of slanted wall lines and door frames making the small set seem much larger. The mirror-image room set design employs no physical wall, instead using different floor color and backdrop color on each side to visually separate the space. This mirroring theme is a thread throughout the play.

You can still get tickets to see Gibberish Mostly through September 30 by clicking here.

I'm grateful that the Ground Floor Theatre reopened after a 20 month absence. Austin is losing far too many of the performance spaces and businesses that made our fair city quirky and charming. I'm proud to support local theatre, especially Ground Floor Theatre.

Chad and I talked about other favorite live theatre shows we've seen over the years. To the best of my recollection here are my five favorite live theatre shows I've seen. (btw: I've seen lots of shows in Manhattan, but only one Broadway show made my list.)


1. Co*Star: The Record Acting Game with Vincent Price

Conceptualized and performed by Lee Eddy for the 2016 Fronterafest Short Fringe in Austin, this play rightly won "best of fest". I laughed. I cried. I saw this play three different times, and still loved it each time. Lee Eddy embodies a character like no one else I know. She brings pathos to even the silliest moments. I really did cry when her character knocked over a beloved houseplant in the midst of "co-starring" with Vincent Price. Genius.

Here is the description from the Fronterafest website:  

YOU act scenes opposite your favorite actor. Directions: 1) Remove script from LP envelope. 2) Turn to any scene you want to play. 3) Place the phonograph needle on the corresponding scene that is on the record. 4) Listen carefully as the narrator sets the scene and the star on this record acts out his part and gives you your cue. 5) When your cue is given, read your lines at the proper pace so that the flow of the scene is natural and realistic. 6) Follow the script but you may add, change or improvise your lines as you wish. REMEMBER! Practice makes perfect.

2. The 39 Steps

Chad and I saw The 39 Steps in Manhattan on Broadway. By some unknown magic, we scored front row, center seats. Four hardworking actors played about a hundred different characters in this hilarious tale of spy craft with lightning fast pacing, imaginative sets and crazy costume changes. My face hurt after the show from laughing, smiling and gasping so much. Branded as "Hitchcock made hilarious", 39 Steps is anticipated to return to Broadway in 2018 - 2019. This is the show to see!


3. Circus 1903

Chad and I loved this touring show. We saw Circus 1903 in Austin at the Long Center.

Read my original blog post by clicking here.

Check out the tour calendar for Circus 1903 by clicking here.


4. Santaland Diaries 

Santaland Diaries (the stage show) is based on the essay of the same title by David Sedaris chronicling his time working at Macy's as a holiday elf. The stage show adds some holiday tunes performed cabaret style for good measure. Chad and I have seen this show many times over the years. I personally prefer Santaland Diaries performed by perennial Austin actors Martin Burke and Meredith McCall at Zachary Scott Theatre. That said, I've seen other actors perform the role of Crumpet from Santaland Diaries, and the show is still laugh-til-you-cry funny and snarky. Definitely catch a local performance of Santaland Diaries wherever/whenever you can. Please be warned that this show is decidedly not family friendly.


5. Annie

When I lived in Birmingham, Alabama during my elementary school years, my parents took me to see a touring production of the musical Annie. The first, and quite possibly the last, musical I ever loved. (As an adult, I'm not a big fan of musicals. Really? You're going to burst into song? No thanks.) I bought a long-playing record of the show. I learned every word to every song.  I retroactively pity my poor parents having to listen to that noise as I readied myself for the imaginary audition when I might win the role of Pepper. I didn't want to be that goodie-two-shoes Annie. I wanted to portray the bad-girl Pepper.

btw: I'm dragging Chad to a movie-party of Annie (the version from 1982) at the Alamo Drafthouse. Send Chad happy thoughts during this difficult time for him.

Get out and support live theatre! I acknowledge that live shows can be expensive. Many venues host pay-what-you-wish performances or offer reduced ticket prices for students, members of the military or senior citizens. Check with the venue, you might be able to volunteer as an usher (or in some other capacity) to see a show for free.

To BYOP or not to BYOP? That is the quandary.

Fall is my favorite season. Halloween is my favorite holiday. I love carving pumpkins. (For those of you who vehemently oppose any of these opinions, go ahead and freak out. Bye.)

Starting many years ago in my tiny studio apartment, growing in guest list size as my accommodations grew, I have hosted many BYOP (Bring Your Own Pumpkin) parties. A few years I didn't have the energy to host a BYOP party (like the year some rotten ne'er-do-wells kicked in our front door and robbed our house). Hosting this party requires much planning, physical effort, some sweat, a little bit of cursing, a good dose of creativity and a lot of cleaning before and after. I won't lie: some years after a BYOP party I swear that I'll never do it again. It's that tiring. Some years after a BYOP party I feel reconnected to old friends and so thankful for social connections. I perused old pumpkin party pics today in an effort to decide whether or not to host the BYOP party this year. Here are some of my favorites. Enjoy.

Reasons to host BYOP:

I worry that our social group and support network are drifting apart. Hosting this party invites all the people we like to reconnect, to strengthen bonds and renew friendships.

Halloween is my favorite holiday. BYOP is a fun way to celebrate Halloween.

I love seeing the pumpkins people carve, paint, sticker, bedazzle or otherwise decorate. 

I not-so-secretly love planning and logistics, especially as they relate to parties and decorating.

I already have the to-do list, party rental list, grocery list and blueprints from past BYOP parties. 

Reasons to not host BYOP:

October is a busy time in Austin including: both weekends of ACL music fest, children's sports activities, school carnivals, UT football games and various fundraisers. 

It's so much work to host this party. From setting up tables, chairs, buffet, grocery shopping, food prep, pickup from vendors, to struggling to be a gracious host as an unnamed guest lets their children barricade themselves in our home's only bathroom during the party for over thirty minutes, to cleaning up pumpkin guts off of the hardwood floors and rugs. So. Much. Work.

About half of the guests don't touch a pumpkin during the party, despite all the carving tools, stickers, paint and bedazzling supplies I offer. I should simply be glad that every guest chose to attend. But some broken part of me really wants the majority of attendees to decorate a pumpkin.

It's kind of expensive. Can one put a price on friendship? No. But this party's budget might shock some of you. 

Good weather is not guaranteed. One year it rained really hard during the BYOP party. We moved the buffet tables inside and relocated the pumpkin decorating stations to our carport. Despite our best efforts the party was kind of a bust.